Teen Librarian In Canton Generates New Interest At Library

CANTON — Allyssa Bruce is the first teen librarian at the Canton Public Library.

Bruce, a Wolcott resident, graduated from the University of Connecticut with a bachelor's degree in English and is finishing her final semester of graduate school at Simmons College in Massachusetts, where she is studying library and informational sciences.

"I was nearing the end of my bachelor's degree and I wasn't sure what to do," said Bruce, 25. "I always loved everything about libraries. They play an important role in every community."

Bruce also works at the Max R. Traurig Library at Naugatuck Valley Community College, where she deals with interlibrary loans and categorizes magazines and periodicals.

After six months at the Canton library, she began a teen advisory group, which has met three times. The group meets once a month, and discussions center around programs teenagers would like to have at the library, she said.

"It's a place for teens to get the opportunity to share ideas of what they want to see here," Bruce said. "I want to make them feel part of the community and have a chance to voice their ideas."

She has already built some programs around the discussions. For instance, she has created a craft program, a book club, and is beginning a Wii gaming league. The library acquired a Wii computer gaming system a few years ago for the children's area, and Bruce said she intends to put it to more use.

In the craft program, she helped teenagers to make necklaces using their favorite book quote. In another example, she walked over to her desk and grabbed a pen decorated with colorful duct tape to represent a flower.

"This was another craft," she said, twirling the flower pen. "It was something small, but to do small crafts with them keeps them interested."

Bruce's arrival at the library was helped by Robert Simon, a determined library director who had advocated hiring a teen librarian to the board of selectmen.

When the town budget was voted on last spring, the selectmen voted 3-2 to allocate funds for the new position.

Simon remembered that as "a real, real good day. We believe it is very important. After five years of requesting it, they finally believed that the library needed this."

Simon said many libraries are realizing that they need to reach out to young people between the ages of 12 and 20. He said he's confident that Bruce will help increase teen attendance at the Canton library.

"I have seen a lot more activity in the Teen Zone that I didn't see before, no matter how hard we tried," Simon said.

First Selectman Richard Barlow said: "So far, from what we heard, the position has been successful and the library has been getting those individuals in that fit the teenage bracket."

Barlow said the reason it took five years to get the money to hire a teen librarian was because of competing spending priorities.

Bruce works 16 hours per week, which allows her to finish her master's degree and maintain her job at the community college. She said the most of her classes are online and that if she does have to be at school, she attends the Simmons College campus in South Hadley, Mass.

"It's really important to make contacts at the schools," Bruce said. "Most kids are involved in so many things, it's hard to get them to come to the library."

Bruce said that because the library is within walking distance from Canton Intermediate School, the high school and middle school, she is working on creating more after-school programming.